---
slug: "los-angeles-chargers"
title: Los Angeles Chargers
depth_tier: program
side: UNIVERSAL
category: Teams
source_id: "NFL-0016"
created: 2026-05-12
updated: 2026-05-13
canonical: https://learningfootball.xyz/programs/los-angeles-chargers
aliases:
  - Los Angeles Chargers
  - San Diego Chargers
  - Chargers football
  - the Bolts
sameAs:
  - "https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/_/name/lac/los-angeles-chargers"
  - Q272220
  - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Chargers"
  - "https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/sdg/index.htm"
---
# Los Angeles Chargers

## Short Definition

AFC West NFL franchise founded in 1960—consistent offensive excellence despite elusive championship success, now in Los Angeles after decades in San Diego.

## Definition

The Los Angeles Chargers are an NFL franchise in the AFC West division, sharing SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California with the Los Angeles Rams. Founded in 1960 as one of the original AFL franchises—beginning as the Los Angeles Chargers before moving to San Diego in 1961—the franchise spent 56 years building its identity in San Diego before relocating back to Los Angeles in 2017.

The Chargers have produced some of the AFL and NFL's most consistently excellent passing offenses without converting that productivity into championships. Dan Fouts' Air Coryell offense in the late 1970s and early 1980s was one of professional football's most revolutionary passing systems, redefining offensive football's possibilities before the modern passing era normalized those concepts. Despite multiple AFC Championship appearances, the franchise won no Super Bowls in the San Diego era.

Philip Rivers' 16-year tenure as the franchise quarterback produced elite statistics and sustained competitive success, establishing him as one of the sport's most accomplished passers without a championship. The Rivers era's unfulfilled potential is a defining characteristic of the franchise's recent history.

The Los Angeles relocation created a franchise navigating a challenging market dynamic—playing in the second-largest American media market as the secondary NFL tenant, working to build a new fanbase while many San Diego loyalists declined to follow the team north.

## Example

"Air Coryell, Dan Fouts, four thousand yards before four thousand yards was normal—the Chargers invented the modern passing offense and never won a Super Bowl with it. That's the Chargers story."

## Common Confusion

The Chargers relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2017, creating significant tension with a San Diego fanbase that had supported the team for over fifty years. The move was controversial because Los Angeles had been without an NFL team since the Rams and Raiders left in 1995, and the Chargers entered a market where the Rams had already established themselves as the primary tenant at SoFi Stadium.

## Related

- super-bowl-sunday
- lombardi-trophy
- nfl-films

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Source: https://learningfootball.xyz/programs/los-angeles-chargers